Failed Star Trek Series 04: Star Trek: Phase II

Of all the failed Star Trek projects, Star Trek: Phase II stands out as both the closest to realization and the most pivotal. Planned as a direct sequel to The Original Series, it was greenlit by Paramount in the mid-1970s as the flagship series of a proposed fourth broadcast network. Despite substantial production and planning—scripts written, sets built, new characters cast—the show was ultimately shelved just before filming was set to begin. Yet its legacy lives on in some of Star Trek’s most iconic content.

Phase II was envisioned as a continuation of the five-year mission, with Captain Kirk still at the helm of the Enterprise. Leonard Nimoy had declined to return as Spock, so the character of Xon, a full-blooded Vulcan science officer, was created to replace him. Two other new crewmembers were added: Commander Willard Decker, the first officer, and Lieutenant Ilia, a Deltan navigator with empathic abilities. These characters would later be repurposed in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Scripts were drafted for thirteen episodes, including “In Thy Image,” which was to serve as the pilot. That script was eventually reworked into Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). Other unproduced scripts—like “The Child” and “Devil’s Due”—would later be adapted into episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This makes Phase II not just a failed series, but a vital creative junction in the evolution of Star Trek.

Production had already begun in 1977. Sets were under construction, costumes were being designed, and test footage was filmed. Paramount hoped Phase II would anchor a new television network. However, with the surprise success of Star Wars in 1977, the studio shifted strategies. Believing that a science fiction film could now succeed at the box office, they scrapped the television plan and transitioned Phase II into a feature film project.

Much of the groundwork laid for Phase II—designs, character arcs, and production personnel—was absorbed into The Motion Picture. Xon was dropped when Leonard Nimoy returned as Spock, but Decker and Ilia remained, albeit in altered forms. The sets and design language pioneered for Phase II would influence Starfleet aesthetics throughout the late 20th-century Trek shows.

Although Phase II never aired, its canonical echoes can be seen in:

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (“The Child,” S2E1; “Devil’s Due,” S4E13)

Star Trek: Picard, where legacy themes and continuation arcs revisit the nostalgia for Kirk-era expansions.

Star Trek: Phase II occupies a unique space in franchise history—a failed project that became a bridge between eras, connecting the cancellation of The Original Series with the rebirth of Star Trek as a major multimedia phenomenon.

Works Cited
Cushman, Marc, and Susan Osborn. These Are the Voyages: Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek in the 1970s. Jacobs Brown Press, 2013.

Gross, Edward, and Mark A. Altman. The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years. Thomas Dunne Books, 2016.

Whitfield, Stephen E., and Gene Roddenberry. The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Pocket Books, 1980.

Engle, Joe. “Phase II: The Star Trek Series That Almost Was.” StarTrek.com, 5 May 2015.

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